Zana Šiškin (; sr-cyr, Зана Шишкин, ; born in September 1961) is a Serbian former singer, best known as the first frontress of the

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Zana.

Biography

Zana Nimani was born in 1961 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, to

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

parents from the town of

Đakovica Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

. Nimani started her career in 1976, when she started to sing with the band Suton, in which her (at the time) boyfriend

Radovan Jovićević Radovan Jovićević ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Јовићевић) is a Serbian pop-rock/ folk music composer, producer and band leader. Born in Belgrade on 31 January 1956, he has lived in New York City since 1999. Balkan Years Radovan’s career ...

played guitar. Since 1979, the band started to perform under the name Zana. The band's debut album, ''Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu'' (''Bad News Accompanied by

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

for a Beer Bottle''), released in 1981, brought them nationwide popularity. The following two albums, ''Dodirni mi kolena'' (''Touch My Knees''), released in 1982, and ''Natrag na voz'' (''Back to the Train''), released in 1983, were also well received. However, when Zana went on a hiatus in 1984, Nimani decided to leave the band (which would continue to work under the name Zana). In 1986, she released her only solo album, ''Noćas pevam samo tebi'' (''Tonight I Sing Only for You''). The album was recorded in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and featured Swedish

studio musicians Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. It was produced by Tini Varga, who also authored part of the songs. Other authors on the album were Nimani herself and former Zana members

Marina Tucaković Marina Tucaković ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Туцаковић; 4 November 1953 – 19 September 2021) was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the University ...

, Aleksandar "Futa" Radulović and Bogdan Dragović. The album brought such minor hits as "Što ne znam gde si sad" (''Why Don't I Know Where You Are Now'') and "Miško zna" (''Miško Knows''). During the same year, she appeared at the MESAM Festival with the song "Ruža na dlanu" (''Rose on the Palm''), which was released on a split

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

, with a

Bebi Dol Dragana Todorović ( , / ; born 2 October 1962), better known under the stage name Bebi Dol (), is a Serbian singer and songwriter. Born in Belgrade, she made her debut in 1981 with the single "Mustafa". Bebi Dol rose to further prominence by ...

song "Inšalah" (''

Inshallah ''In sha'Allah'' (; ar, إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, ʾIn shāʾ Allāh ), also spelled In shaa Allah, InshAllah, Insya Allah and İnşAllah is an Arabic language expression meaning "if god wills" or "god willing". It was mentioned i ...

''). Soon after, she retired from the scene. She is married to Đorđe Šiškin. Nimani and Šiškin have one child: daughter Tea (born in Belgrade in 1991). With the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, she moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Discography

With Zana

Studio albums

*''Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu'' (1981) *''Dodirni mi kolena'' (1982) *''Natrag na voz'' (1983)

Singles

*"Nastavnice" / "Sveta" (1980) *"Moj deda" / "Pepito pantalone" (1981) *"Leto" / "Snovi od slame" (1981) *"On" / "Ti si neko staro lice" (1981) *"Jabuke i vino" / "Jabuke i vino – Instrumental" (1983)

Solo

Studio albums

*''Noćas pevam samo tebi'' (1986)

Singles

* "Inšalah" / "Ruža na dlanu" (split single with

; 1986)

References

External links

Zana Nimani at DiscogsZana Nimani at Last.fm
*''EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960–2006'', Janjatović Petar; {{DEFAULTSORT:Nimani, Zana 1961 births Living people Singers from Belgrade Albanians in Serbia Serbian rock singers Serbian pop singers Yugoslav rock singers Yugoslav women singers Yugoslav Albanians Women new wave singers